Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners

"The importance of LGSM is simply that we support the miners openly as lesbians and gay men."

"You have worn our badge ‘Coal Not Dole’ and you know what harassment means, as we do. Now we will pin your badge on us, we will support you. It won’t change overnight, but now 140,000 miners know that there are other causes and other problems. We know about Blacks, and gays, and nuclear disarmament. And we will never be the same again."

"I’ve mentioned Lesbians and Gays in every meeting for the last six months. That the support the Gays and Lesbians have given the miners led the miners to support the Gays and Lesbians… At the [1984 Labour Party] conference the NUM not only spoke about the mining industry and also on reselection, but they also spoke on women’s sections, Black sections and support of the Gays and Lesbians. Now that really is a very significant gain, that a union by the nature of its work has been all male… came out for the Gays and Lesbians."

"She said she’d learned a lot from contact with lesbians and gays, that we can’t do without the miners any more than they can do without us and if any child of hers says it’s gay she will understand. However depressed you might be about the outcome of the strike hers is not the voice of defeat. People are still changing and able to see a better future"

"The Women’s Support Groups of South Wales have not forgotten the solidarity, and the moral and financial support that the Lesbian and Gay Communities gave to our families during the Miners’ Strike of 1984/85… We will do all we can in our area to publicise and campaign against the implications of the Bill especially Clause 28."

"It would be dishonest to say there was no dissent. Years later, we found out there had been a meeting following my letter explaining a bunch of queers wanted to support them. It had led to a very heated discussion. But the consensus was: we have been demonised by the press, maybe we should meet the gay people because they've also been demonised. Those who had a problem with it were told to stay away. So we never encountered any hostility."

"They started wearing gay badges on their lapels. They wanted money because they were on strike; we wanted recognition and acceptance – not that we went with any preconditions, we did not expect anything back."